Slaying witness says he saw Wells fire gun

Published 6:58 am, Tuesday, March 12, 2013

SCHENECTADY — The single gunshot echoing from 730 Bridge St. during a party didn't stop Taylor Thackeray from bolting back inside to look for his buddy, he told jurors Monday in the murder trial of James Wells.

Thackeray, a prosecution witness, testified that he managed to shove a friend, Niam Dorvil, safely to the floor just before shooting began. He said he saw Wells —his back against the door — holding a gun.

"He raised it and started firing," Thackeray, 19, said under questioning from Chief Assistant District Attorney Philip Mueller.

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"In what direction did he fire it?" Mueller asked.

"Up the stairs," Thackeray responded.

"Did you see the gun and can you describe it? Mueller followed up.

"It was just big," Thackeray, noting that he also spotted a second gun on Wells' waist.

Amid the commotion, Thackeray said he also saw Eddie Stanley struggling to hold himself up, only to later realize that his friend had been shot.

"At first it didn't come to me that he got shot. The next thing you know, we're all going crazy," said Thackeray.

The prosecution contends that Wells, now 33, shot Stanley when the house party turned chaotic after one of Wells' friends from Brooklyn lost keys and insisted on patting down partygoers, some of whom protested.

A fight broke out, and, according to prosecutors, Wells drew two weapons and shot Stanley five times in June 12, 2011. The 15-year-old was pronounced dead at Ellis Hospital.

The defense has countered that police have the wrong man and that one of Wells' friends pulled the trigger.

On cross-examination by defense attorney Cheryl F. Coleman, Thackeray said he had lied to city detectives about certain details of the shooting hours after it happened, including that he had punched the gunman.

Back then, he described the killer as a 5-foot-7, husky, dark-skinned black man in his early 20s who was wearing a dark-colored hoodie pulled over his head.

"I'm not good at describing people," said Thackeray.

"My questions are not your strengths or weaknesses, sir, but rather what you told police under oath," Coleman responded.

She later asked Wells, who was seated at the defense table, to stand up, stressing to the jury that her client is 6 feet 1. Coleman also held up the murder weapon, a large black firearm, while emphasizing to the jury that Thackeray had told police the weapon was silver.

"It's hard to keep up with your versions," said Coleman, who contended that Thackeray only identified Wells as the gunman after prosecutors in January brought up his association with the Uptown Gunners street gang. Mueller said those assertions were false.

Wells also is charged with four counts of weapons possession, reckless endangerment, unlawful imprisonment and tampering with evidence, plus three counts of misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.